Welcome to the Ability Shop!

Chapter 48 The Big Show Begins
"Good evening, sorry to bother you..."

At this moment, Liu Shuyue walked down the stairs and was stunned when she saw the two of them.

Lin Qing was taking out potato chips when her shoulder was almost touching Chen Xuan's.

"Sorry, I've arrived at a rather unfortunate time?"

Liu Shuyue asked the question aloud, but her eyes did not look away.

"No, we're discussing some things." Chen Xuan coughed twice, then stood up, feigning nonchalance. "Would you like coffee or tea?"

"Tea bar, please make another cup." Liu Shuyue waved to the second floor, "Come down, the manager isn't going to eat you."

Anyone else?
Chen Xuan looked towards the top of the stairs with a puzzled expression, only to see a burly man hesitantly walking down. He recognized the man; he used to be a hunter and a member of the first hunting team.

"Your name is... Fu Jiao Lu?"

The other party immediately showed an expression of being flattered, "Lord Chen, I didn't expect you to remember me!"

"I remember you were shouting that you wanted to support the Immortal Master when Zhang Weicheng was under the city walls."

"Hehe." He scratched his head a little embarrassedly, "I'm just a rough guy, I can't think of any good words, so I can only cheer for the Immortal Master by speaking loudly."

"Come and have some tea." Chen Xuan placed two cups of tea in front of the tea table.

"Thank you, thank you..." He quickly bowed his head to express his gratitude, only daring to sit on a small corner of the chair.

“I’ve basically arranged things in Mala Village and I’m ready to leave,” Liu Shuyue said as she sat down next to Lin Qing. “However, considering the distance between the two places, I wonder if the manager could also register Fu Jiaolu as that… Wei Aipi customer? If his room is connected to the Great Wilderness, then I can return to the village at any time.”

"I see." Chen Xuan immediately understood the brilliance of this move. The back door of the room followed the homeowner, and since each of the two clients was connected to a different place, it was equivalent to establishing a portal between the two locations. "There's no problem with that."

"That's good." Liu Shuyue then turned to look at Lin Qing. "It seems you've recovered quite well."

"You must be Miss Liu who helped me with my treatment?" Lin Qing grasped her hand and said, "I heard Chen Xuan mention you. I was still a bit confused when I first woke up last time, and I forgot to thank you properly... Thank you for helping me. I will definitely repay you if I have the chance in the future."

Perhaps not expecting her to be so proactive, Liu Shuyue paused for a moment, then smiled and withdrew her hand. "Actually, I didn't do anything, so there's no need to be so formal. Miss Lin, don't you have any suitable clothes here? I can prepare two sets for you."

Lin Qing's only clothes were that one-piece combat suit, and she was currently wearing Chen Xuan's oversized T-shirt.

"Thank you for your kindness, but I've already picked some out online, and they should arrive tomorrow."

"Online?"

"Hmm... it's a bit complicated to explain, but if you're interested, I can show you around now."

"Alright, then I'll trouble you, Miss Lin."

The two quickly became acquainted.

Chen Xuan twitched his lips. Could this be considered an exchange across eras?
"By the way, does this shop require any special treasures to repair?" Liu Shuyue suddenly turned the conversation to Chen Xuan. "It was dilapidated last time, and it's still like that now. Won't this affect business?"

"Not really, it's just like repairing a regular house, it's just that finding someone is more troublesome," Chen Xuan explained. Repairing lights and water pipes is manageable, there are plenty of phone numbers posted on utility poles along the roadside, but finding a reliable bricklayer is difficult. "Besides, I've been quite busy lately and haven't had time to think about this."

"How about... I ask the villagers to help take care of it?" Liu Shuyue suggested.

“Yes!” Fu Jiaolu nodded repeatedly. “The village has carpenters and masons, and their skills are quite good, especially after becoming cultivators, they have even improved their original specialties a lot. However, they can only make mortal items, and they are probably powerless to make things from the immortal realm…”

Oh right, how could he forget that?

This shop is quite mysterious, so mysterious that it's ordinary in every way except for its functions. It seems quite appropriate to ask the residents of Mala Village to help with the repairs.

Chen Xuan immediately agreed, "Sure, let them give it a try."

Soon, Fu Jiaolu brought a new group of villagers. Their expressions upon entering the room were similar to the former group—a mixture of awe and restraint, as if this were some sacred place. After a brief discussion, everyone rolled up their sleeves and got to work, their attitude incredibly enthusiastic and earnest.

All the broken furniture was removed, and new cabinets and small tables were made from pieces of solid wood. The holes in the walls were plastered and then covered with animal hides and bones. The floor was swept and mopped several times, leaving no corner untouched.

In less than two hours, the shop was completely transformed.

If the lobby's decor used to be simple and elegant, it has now become luxurious and elegant. The hand-polished furniture naturally exudes a sense of nobility, not to mention the ox horns, dragon claws, and tiger skins on the walls. These kinds of decorations, which are usually only seen in museums, instantly elevate the store's ambiance to a new level.

"How was it? Are you satisfied?" Fu Jiaolu asked expectantly. Chen Xuan patted him on the shoulder. "Well done."

Everyone was overjoyed, as if they had received the approval of a celestial being, and their excitement was palpable.

Chen Xuan was deeply moved. Kuku had done a lot of work for him without asking for wages, and his only request was his approval. This was a truly exceptional worker, one you couldn't find even with a lantern!
When assigning rooms to Fu Jiaolu, he also used a barcode scanner to check everyone's abilities and found that most of them had mastered the Heart-Clearing Technique, while some focused on talismans and others on combat techniques, and their progress was quite good.

In this way, the benefits that Mala Village can bring to me seem to go far beyond the performance points that can be exchanged for abilities.
"Could you set off a day later?" Chen Xuan asked Liu Shuyue.

The latter estimated for a moment, "If it's just for one day, that's fine. What are your plans?"

"Yes, there is something I need your help with."

Perhaps I can give myself a small rehearsal—to this world that has not yet opened its eyes.

……

……

The next day at noon, Chen Xuan and Lin Qing took a car to the flood control scenic area along the Shajiang River.

This great river divides the city in two, so several bridges have been built across it over the past twenty years. But the busiest of all is the Shajiang Bridge in front of us. It was the first to be built and connects the most important main roads in the city, so even though it is somewhat old, it still has the highest traffic volume of all the bridges across the river.

Moreover, the riverbanks are also great tourist attractions, with green belts and riverside parks. Even on weekdays, you can see many people enjoying themselves along the river.

"It's almost time, let's begin." Chen Xuan turned on his phone's camera mode.

Moments later, three jets of water suddenly burst out of the river, each more than ten meters high!
This unusual commotion immediately drew gasps of surprise from tourists along the scenic route.

"Was that an explosion?"

Is someone blasting fish?

People who were playing and camping on the grass in the park also rushed towards the flood control embankment.

"Mom, there are people standing on the water!" a child exclaimed.

"Holy crap, is this some kind of stunt show?" More and more people were shocked to discover that three figures had appeared where the water jets had scattered.

They were three tall men, dressed in animal skins, their chests and arms bare, their pectoral and abdominal muscles clearly defined, and their arm muscles bulging in clusters, displaying an extremely strong sense of power. What was even more striking was their attire: their light brown skin was painted with many patterns, they wore helmets with animal horns on their heads, and bone necklaces hung on their chests, quite in line with the style of fierce savages.

"But they weren't carrying any equipment, so how did they float up?"

"Quick, check Slow Video, is anyone streaming?"

Everyone was chattering away.

"Enough!" a man suddenly roared, his voice booming across the river like thunder, drowning out the surrounding noise. "You've gone too far! We've fled our homes and escaped all the way here just to survive, and yet you still want to hunt us down? Fine, I won't hide anymore! Come on!"

"Heh, he did pretty well." Lin Qing said happily, "He was so stiff during rehearsals, I thought he'd be too nervous to speak when it came to the real thing."

"They're just inexperienced, not cowardly." In Chen Xuan's view, anyone who could lead their family across half of Qingzhou and survive in a famine-stricken environment where people ate each other was definitely not a weak or cowardly person. Perhaps Fu Jiaolu and the others didn't understand the significance of their performances, but as long as it was something "Manager" asked them to do, they would do their best to complete it.

As for the tension on the spot, it's not a big problem. As long as they use the Mind-Clearing Technique, they can immediately calm down and concentrate on carrying out their mission. Chen Xuan had already experienced this before.

"Chasing us? Who is it?"

"I support you calling the police!" the people around him laughed.

But the next moment, everyone suddenly shut their mouths.

"Is that so? That's for the best, saving me the trouble of searching for you world after world... Let's settle this once and for all." The cold female voice that followed was like a gust of wind that froze the entire river. Even before seeing the speaker, just hearing that lingering rebuke was enough to set people's minds on the edge of their seats.

"Look, on the bridge!" someone pointed to the bridge.

Everyone else looked up at the bridge structure, which was fifty or sixty meters above the water.

A woman dressed in flowing white appeared on the railing at the edge of the Shajiang First Bridge.

(End of this chapter)